Consumer demand for sustainable products and services continues to grow. How does e-commerce approach environmental responsibility?

1. Raising awareness of eco-threats

Companies such as Google, Amazon, and the Ant Group encourage consumers to choose sustainable solutions and offer information about the impact of products on the environment. Their goal is to raise awareness of environmental threats, and to promote solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“When you’re choosing between flights with a similar price or timing, you can also factor carbon emissions into your decision,” wrote, for example, Richard Holden, Google’s Vice President of travel products.

2. Supporting sustainable products

Studies show that although most consumers want to be more sustainable, only a small proportion of them are willing, or able, to change their lifestyle. E-commerce can help bridge this gap by supporting sustainable products. With over 1.5 billion people using their platforms, they are a significant driver of change, and have a huge opportunity to influence sustainable consumer behaviour.

3. Rewards for “greener” choices

Organizations such as the Green Digital Finance Alliance (GDFA), founded by Ant Group and UNEP, are working to strengthen financing for sustainable development through digital platforms. The goal is to help people make “greener” choices through initiatives like the Every Action Counts Coalition and the Ant Forest app, which rewards users for choosing to use low-carbon products or services.

4. Environmental dashboard

Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly initiative helps people find green products, while SAP’s Ariba platform focuses on transparency in corporate supply chains. It thereby supports the possibility of evaluating their environmental impact. The concept of a digital environmental dashboard is being promoted, which would allow people to better understand and influence their impact on the environment.

5. Enhancing confidence in environmental claims

There is a growing need to establish common standards to ensure the reliability of sustainability claims. The European Commission has found that many sustainability claims made by online retailers are exaggerated or false. UNEP’s One Planet network and the European Union are working to introduce guidelines and digital product passports that would strengthen consumer protection and confidence in environmental impact claims.

Source:

https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/can-e-commerce-help-save-planet